FRUITFUL LIVES COME FROM WELL CULTIVATED SOULS

I want my life and my work to be rooted in good soil; soil rich and healthy and energized by the Holy Spirit. I don’t just want good ideas or quaint fads. I want conformity, not with the world but with the will and mind of God. That comes from being intentional, in my thinking and in my living. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

I am convinced that the energy behind ruling this world’s system has an agenda. That energy requires conformity and fights to get it. That energy’s intention is to draw people away from God. The enemy is deceptive because he makes it look like the power is given to the people; but it isn’t. “Again, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone Satan.’
The energy behind this world’s system is Satan but the power is God’s. What we are lacking today is people to say “Be gone Satan.” The church is too busy doing other things or fighting amongst themselves. The only voices being heard are saying to get more power and control, voices that come up empty, with nothing backing them up. That is not the soil I want to cultivate my life in, nor do I want to even work with.

Fruitful lives and work come from well treated and well cultivated soil that is subject to God’s will, has the interest and mind of Jesus, is filled with the Truth, energized by the Holy Spirit, interwoven through with love and mercy, and fully composted with obedience. That soil will be good soil and will produce a healthy and sustainable crop. Those nutrients are not found on most TV, in most media, or on the lips of many of those who are in positions of leadership in the world.

The energy behind this world’s system has caused us to question God (“Did God actually say” (Genesis 3:1) and has encouraged us to act on our own understanding (“Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). We do not learn from our history of mistakes and we continue to listen to the one who has no true power or control.
“My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)
I do not want to continue that pattern. As it says in a hymn by C.M. Windsor
“Lord as to thy dear cross I flee,
And plead to be forgiven,
So let thy life my pattern be,
And form my soul for heaven.”